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Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf ( ar, كعب بن الأشرف; died ) was, according
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic texts, a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
leader and poet in
Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
.


Biography

Ka'b was born to a father from the
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Tayy , location = 2nd century CE–10th century: Jabal Tayy and Syrian Desert 10th century–16th century: Jabal Tayy, Syrian Desert, Jibal al-Sharat, al-Balqa, Palmyrene Steppe, Upper Mesopotamia, Northern Hejaz, Najd , parent_tribe = Madh' ...
tribe and a mother from the
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
Banu Nadir The Banu Nadir ( ar, بَنُو ٱلنَّضِير, he, בני נצ'יר) were a Jewish Arab tribe which lived in northern Arabia at the oasis of Medina until the 7th century. The tribe refused to convert to Islam as Muhammad had ordered it to d ...
tribe. His father having died early, Ka'b was brought up in his mother's family and in her faith. He was recognized as belonging to his mother's tribe, in which he was one of the leading men. The order to kill Ka'b is mentioned in numerous
hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
s. Muhammad made it clear to his companions that he wished Ka'b dealt with, saying, "Who is willing to deal with Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf who has irritated Allah and His Messenger?" Muhammad bin Maslama volunteered and was aided by several others, including Ka‘b’s foster brother, Abu Na'ila. Ibn Maslamah was troubled that this assassination would involve lying to Ka'b, but Muhammad gave him a dispensation to do so. They took Ka'b out for a walk late at night and killed him.


Interpretation

Many authors have ascribed evil deeds to Ka'b, with questionable veracity. According to the
Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published i ...
, following the victory of the Muslims over the
Quraysh The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qu ...
in the
Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr ( ar, غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ ), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ) in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the present-day city of Badr, Al Madinah Provinc ...
, in March 624, Ka'b was angry at the execution of a number of
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...
n notables who had been captured after that battle. According to some Islamic commentators, Muhammad called upon his followers to deal with Ka'b because the latter had "provoked heQuraysh against Muhammad" by bewailing Quraysh victims of the Battle in a poem.
Ibn Hisham Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām ibn Ayyūb al-Ḥimyarī al-Muʿāfirī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو محمد عبدالملك بن هشام ابن أيوب الحميري المعافري البصري; died 7 May 833), or Ibn Hisham, e ...
's biography of Muhammad reports Ka'b as saying "By Allah, if Muhammad has indeed struck down those people, then it were better to be buried in the earth than to walk upon it!" Other sources state that the reason for killing of Ka'b was that he had plotted with a group of Jews to kill Muhammad. The writings of the later commentators such as
al-Zamakhshari Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshari (; 1074 –1143) was a medieval Muslim scholar of Iranian descent. He travelled to Makkah and settled there for five years and has been known since then as Jar Allah ‘God's Neighbor’. He was a Mu' ...
, al-Tabarsi, al-Razi,
al-Baydawi Qadi Baydawi (also known as Naṣir ad-Din al-Bayḍawi, also spelled Baidawi, Bayzawi and Beyzavi; d. June 1319, Tabriz) was a Persian jurist, theologian, and Quran commentator. He lived during the post- Seljuk and early Mongol era. Many commen ...
, and al-Asqalani provide another distinct report according to which Ka'b was killed because
Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...
had informed Muhammad about a treaty signed by himself and
Abu Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams ( ar, صخر بن حرب بن أمية بن عبد شمس, Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya ibn ʿAbd Shams; ), better known by his '' kunya'' Abu Sufyan ( ar, أبو سفيان, Abū Sufyān), was a prominent ...
creating an alliance between the Quraysh and forty Jews against Muhammad during Ka'b's visit to Mecca. According to Uri Rubin, some allusions to the existence of an anti-Muslim treaty between Quraysh and Ibn al-Ashraf may be found in the earlier sources. On some accounts, Huyayy bin Akhtab of Banu Nadir tribe had earlier refused to pay blood money for the murder of two Muslims and
Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy ʿAbd Allāh ibn 'Ubayy ibn Salūl ( ar, عبد الله بن أبي بن سلول), died 631, was a chieftain of the Khazraj tribe of Medina. Upon the arrival of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Ibn Ubayy seemingly became a Muslim, but Muslim tradi ...
had planned along with allied nomads to attack Muhammad. Muhammad besieged the Banu Nadir and ordered the tribe to leave Medina within ten days. The tribe at first decided to comply, but certain people from Medina who were not believers offered to help Banu al-Nadir fight the Muslims.
Huyayy ibn Akhtab Huyayy ibn Akhtab ( ar, حيي بن أخطب; he, חי בן אחיטוב) was a chief of the Banu Nadir, a Jewish tribe of Medina in pre-Islamic Arabia. Biography Family His ancestry was Huyayy ibn Akhtab ibn Sa‘yah ibn Tha‘labah ibn ‘Ubay ...
, despite opposition from within the tribe, decided to fight, a fight which ended with their surrender although they were allowed to leave and take what possessions they could carry on their camels, with the exception of their weapons which they had to leave behind.


Further reading

* Ehsan Roohi,
The Murder of the Jewish Chieftain Ka‘b b. al-Ashraf: A Re-examination
', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2021, pp. 103 - 124


See also

*
Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era This is a list of the non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era. In Islam, the Ṣaḥābah ( ar, الصحابة "companions") were the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This form is plural; the singular is ''Ṣaḥā ...
* Umm Qirfa * Asma bint Marwan * Abu 'Afak *
Huyayy ibn Akhtab Huyayy ibn Akhtab ( ar, حيي بن أخطب; he, חי בן אחיטוב) was a chief of the Banu Nadir, a Jewish tribe of Medina in pre-Islamic Arabia. Biography Family His ancestry was Huyayy ibn Akhtab ibn Sa‘yah ibn Tha‘labah ibn ‘Ubay ...
* Ka'b ibn Asad *
Al-Kawthar Al-Kawthar ( ar, الكوثر, "Abundance") is the 108th chapter ( sūrah) of the Quran. It is the shortest chapter, consisting of three '' ayat'' or verses: : ۝ We have given thee abundance :۝ So pray to your Lord and sacrifice o Him alone ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kab Ibn Al-Ashraf 624 deaths Assassinated Jews Banu Nadir Tayy 7th-century Arabian Jews Medieval Jewish poets Pre-Islamic Arabian poets Opponents of Muhammad Year of birth unknown